Category Archives: Reviews

“Julie Travis’ Storylandia collection is a must for any devoted follower of weird/dark/occult fiction. … I’d also comfortably file these stories between the stranger works of, say, Jonathan Carroll or Haruki Murakami, … transcend their genre trappings into a far more magical (sur)realist territory. … I can guarantee you’ll speed through these tales and be waiting as impatiently as I for a follow up.”Storylandia 12 Amazon review, by Jon Yates, October 22, 2016

Thank you, Mr. Yates!

And in the realm of follow up:
Ms. Travis has stories in 2 other Storylandia issues:
“The Falling Man” in Issue 7
and
“The Ferocious Night” in Issue 12 and will have a book from the Wapshott Press in the near future as well.
Ginger Mayerson, Editor, Wapshott Press

“A well-written, scathing examination of 21st-century culture and journalism, done with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Mr. Denton is at his best creating characters with an economy most cultural commentators sorely lack. He manages to evoke deep characters with a minimum of fuss or actual details, leaving just enough to the reader’s imagination. A short, fun read that is definitely recommended.”
Amazon review by Charlie Cottrell, Storylandia 14 this review is on the Kindle edition, but there’s also a paperback version

“Storylandia is the title of ‘The Wapshott Journal of Fiction,’ published by Wapshott Press. The Spring 2015 issue, Storylandia #15 (Wapshott Press pb, 142pp, $7.60), is dedicated to the work of Julie Travis, a writer who will be familiar to older readers from the early days of our predecessor The Third Alternative and possibly from other places as well. It contains five stories, all of them previously unpublished, and which, though the writer admits a preference for the term ‘slipstream,’ have about them much that should appeal to horror genre purists.”Black Static #53, only available in print.

“As with Ramage’s previous Freddie Babington story we are thrown straight in at the deep end. We the readers have two choices: go with the flow or take copious notes. I took the latter route, but wasn’t sure that it helped me much. There are detailed descriptions of locations and family kinships, an emerging chronology of events and individual revelations. We’ll expect the usual red herrings and misdirections, of course, but like many a good writer of the ‘cozy’ genre the final denouement will have been clearly signposted if only we had the wit to spot it early on.”Return of the gentleman sleuth, by Calmgrove, June 20, 2016

Posted onMarch 9, 2014|Comments Off on “Death Among the Marshes” (SL 10) review

“The detective with a notebook is a commonplace in murder mysteries, and Death Among the Marshes pays homage to this trope, not once but twice – the investigating police detective brings one out, as does Billy Watkins, the manservant of the main protagonist Frederick Babington. Set in the early twenties, this clever novella also gives specific mentions both to the Sherlock Holmes stories and to the first of the Poirot mysteries by Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920). Set in the fictional Norfolk pile of Marsh Hall, seat of Viscount Marshbourne, by the village of Marshbanks, Death Among the Marshes is Kathryn Ramage’s way of having fun with the country house mystery genre while also acknowledging that living in the aftermath of the Great War was no less difficult for many returning soldiers than surviving the actual conflict.”A tortured but decent sleuth, by Calmgrove, March 3, 2014

And check out his other reviews of Kathryn L. Ramage’s fantasy novels:

Note: Storylandia 9, “Rose”, is a 20,000 word novella, not a short story, even an extremely long one. ED

“Storylandia is a very brief work of fiction that follows Rose, a “Pretty Lady” who lives in a home similar to a Brothel, but more upscale. She is the “head girl” and entertains men nightly in a land of princes and barons, the days of Yore, I would guess. Even though this is an extremely short story, I felt like the author didn’t rush through or try to cram too much in. She told Rose’s story in a clear, concise way, and I felt like I “knew” Rose. There were a few twists and turns in the plot, and though the ending may have been predictable, the route Rose took was anything but.”Library Thing, June 6, 2013

“I received this book through the members giveaway on Library Thing. I enjoyed Rose’s story. She had a sad life and was able to put up mental barriers to protect herself from accepting her situation. Until one day when she meets another sad soul who unknowingly breaks down her barriers and forces her to take a good look at her life. This ultimately makes her decide if she truly wants to be happy or if she wants to continue her life the way it is. This is a nice short story about a woman who ultimately decides that she wants to find happiness for herself even though it seems she is doomed to a life of misery.”Library Thing, April 12, 2013

Posted onApril 17, 2011|Comments Off on Five Star Amazon review of Storylandia 3

“Although this book would generally be classified as literary fiction, it certainly has elements of psychological horror in it. The writing is superb, the characterization top notch. At times, the combination of Josette’s insight into her world, and yet her inability to rescue either herself or her brother is heart-wrenching. And their parents? Simply chilling, in an understated way. I won’t spoil the ending by saying anything specific, but if you read and appreciate literary fiction you’ll probably have a rough idea of how things will end. Even if you don’t typically read literary fiction, this might make a good foray into that field.”A Detroit Life, by Charles Gramlich, April 17, 2011

“I am sitting on a balcony with a cup of coffee when I open the book. I have been waiting for this moment, a block of time when I can fall into the journey this writer is sure to create. Admittedly there are expectations of her. I have been reading her writing for years, and I have never openly recommended one of her books. All I have ever said to friends and family is she has this incredible knack for a sentence. For me it is the perfect example of economy in writing when a writer packs history, philosophy and a sly grinned humor into six or seven words leaving us with a period, the simplest of punctuation as if it were nothing. Bang for your buck I would say.”

~snip~

“Dead Girl, Live Boy is not a novella for the light hearted. You will not find butterflies or daisies or puppies or cute little kittens. What you will find is a city dotted with hope as irony and a survival fashioned from those who gave meaning to grit. Maybe we find there are no true heroes or quite possibly we all are because even as irony hope is still hope found in small spaces amongst the characters of this book.

“Michelle Brooks paints a picture as real as most any I have seen weaving fiction like Krakauer reporting a story. I feel I have a secret, as if I am living amongst one of the greats, a legendary writer.”book, by Shea Goff, March 26, 2011

“I guess what really intrigues me about “Dead Girl, Live Boy” is the imagery and foreshadowing throughout. One such example is the brother’s reaction to Josette’s divorce: ‘Josh hung up on me and sent me an e-mail the next day that had an attachment about a man who’d stabbed his girlfriend and buried her alive. She’d crawled out of her grave and arranged to break into a house and call 911 before passing out.’ Another grave yard reference occurs earlier when Josette talks about her future ten years from now and how her parents may be dead by then: ‘I know that I will visit their graves often, if for nothing else, to make sure they’re still in them.’ With lines like that, how can you not feel uncomfortable? How could you not want to see the aftermath of this train wreck in the making?”Dead Girl, Live Boy, JR’s Thumbprints, March 5, 2011